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Canmore Public Library to eliminate annual fees

CANMORE – As of May 1, members of the public will no longer have to pay an annual membership fee to borrow books from the Canmore Public library.
Library
The Canmore Library will be eliminating its annual membership fees on May 1.

CANMORE – As of May 1, members of the public will no longer have to pay an annual membership fee to borrow books from the Canmore Public library. 

Library director Michelle Preston said the board decided to eliminate the fees to make the library more accessible and fall in line with other library’s in the Bow Valley that don’t charge an annual membership fee.

“We recently completed a new strategic plan and part of our goals was to increase accessibility and one of the ways we could do this was removing some of the barriers, such as the membership fee,” said Preston.

Prior to eliminating the fee she said an annual membership cost $12 for adults, $20 for families and $3 for seniors.

By eliminating the annual fee she said the library will have to find alternative revenue streams to offset approximately $25,000 in lost revenue.

“We’re looking for alternative revenue streams and being very careful with how our budget is spent this year,” said Preston. “We obviously want this change to be permanent going forward, not just a temporary thing, so we’ve got a number of different plans in the works to offset the loss.”

She said one potential way to generate additional revenue is through room rental fees and aligning its costs with other Town facilities. She said they are also looking for community donations and exploring grant funding.

In December the library board asked council for $25,000 to help it eliminate the annual fee model, however, council chose to pass on the request.

“Council is not opposed to free memberships, it’s just an overall budget decision,” said Preston. “Everyone is in favour of removing barriers, but decisions have to be made town wide and the library board felt it was important to proceed with this even if it means a shortfall in our budget.”

Earlier this year, council approved spending $854,000 to support the library’s operations and agreed to cover the library’s utility and cleaning fees worth approximately $60,000.

The library’s total operating budget for 2019 is $1 million, with other revenue sources coming from the province, a marigold grant, fines and rentals.

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